Voice and gesture control systems, mechanisms, and devices are in use to control access to various media devices. For example, television remote control devices may incorporate a voice activated feature that allows a viewer to turn the television, and change channels and volume. The voice activation feature also may be used to sign on to a service, purchase a pay-per-view movie, and complete other transactions that in the past required manual entry using buttons on the remote control. Use of voice control may enhance the viewer's television viewing experience by doing away with cumbersome on screen interfaces and eliminating the need to find a specific button in a sea of remote control buttons. In addition to voice recognition, some systems incorporate gesture control, whereby a small camera on a television, for example, captures viewer gestures to identify an action requested by the viewer, such as to turn the television volume down.